Protective garment for a patient

ABSTRACT

A garment for a weak or paralyzed patient has handholds to assist a caregiver in moving or positioning the patient. The garment may have a double tail that is passed through the crotch of the patient and fastened on the front of the garment. The tail has left and right portions that pass on opposite sides of the patient&#39;s genitals to prevent discomfort caused by compression of the genitals. In another embodiment of the invention, short trousers have a cutout in the crotch area to prevent discomfort to a male patient. The garment includes handholds on an upper front portion of the garment so the patient can be pulled forward to position pillows behind the patient. One construction of the handholds includes dowels forming rigid members to facilitate gripping by a caregiver.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional patentapplication serial No. 60/421,523, filed Oct. 26, 2002 entitled Garmentfor invalid.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates, in general, to garments worn bypatients for use by caregivers to manipulate the patient and, moreparticularly, the instant invention relates to the design of suchgarments having connecting portions to mount the garment on a patientand handholds for moving or positioning the patient.

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] Many of the challenges of caring for patients including, forexample, invalids is that of moving or positioning the patients who maybe paralyzed or otherwise too weak due to a sickness to positionthemselves in a bed or furniture for seating. For example, bedriddenpatients generally required frequent turning to prevent the onset ofbedsores in concentrated load bearing areas. Feeble patients require thehelp of a caregiver to transfer the patient into and out of a bed, achair, a wheelchair and a car. A post-surgical patient generally benefitor require periods of time for sitting in a generally upright positionto prevent an onset of pneumonia. A patient who is placed in a sittingupright position in bed may tend to slide downward in the bed andrequire repositioning by a caregiver to reestablish the desired uprightposition in the bed. A patient in bed may need to be moved forwardly bya caregiver for positioning pillows. A patient undergoing physicaltherapy may need to be positioned appropriately for the therapy.Patients may be physically hard to move due to their weight and bulk,and it may be difficult to protect patients from injury due to brittlebones, and/or fragile skin.

[0006] In response to this need, my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,329entilted Invalid support garment disclosed handholds in a garment foruse by a caregiver to move or position the patient. Various other priorart patents teach garments having handles, these known patents compriseU.S. Pat. No. 6,167,572 entitled Reinforced garment with looped graspinghandles discloses garment pants having handles to be used by a dancepartner. U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,253 entitled Quick evacuation fireman'scoat discloses a fireman's coat having straps so that a fireman who hasbeen injured or overcome by heat or smoke can be evacuated by anotherfireman by the use of the straps. U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,804 entitledInfant's garment with safety feature disclosed a body suit used as awrap around an infant and presenting handles on the garment for quicklymoving the infant to safety.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0007] It is therefore one of the primary objects of the presentinvention to facilitate the process of moving or positioning a weak orparalyzed patient.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a garmentfor a weak or paralyzed patient, the garment having handholds tofacilitate moving or positioning the patient.

[0009] Still another object of the present invention is to provide agarment for a weak or paralyzed patient, the garment having handholdswith rigid portions to protect a care giver's hands.

[0010] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide agarment for moving or positioning a male patient, the garment having abifurcate portion for passing through the crotch of the patient toprevent discomfort.

[0011] A further object of the present invention is to provide, for aweak or paralyzed patient, a garment having separate top and bottomportions, the portions having handholds to facilitate moving orpositioning the patient.

[0012] It is an additional object of the present invention to provide,for a weak or paralyzed male patient, a bottom garment having handholdsand a bifurcate portion passing through the crotch of the patient toprevent discomfort.

[0013] Still yet, another object of the present invention is to provide,for a weak or paralyzed male patient, a bottom garment having handholdsand a bifurcate portion passing thought the crotch of the patient toprevent discomfort, the bifurcate portion including a pair of tailportions.

[0014] Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide,for a weak or paralyzed patient, a top garment having handholds on thefront to facilitate moving the patient forward to position pillows.

[0015] A still further object of the present invention is to provide arigid handhold for a garment for a weak or paralyzed patient. The rigidhandhold is for improving the grip of a caregiver when moving orpositioning the patient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0016] According to one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a garment used by a caregiver wherein the garment includes agarment body including front garment portion and a back garment portionconstructed and arranged for traversing front and back areas of thepatient from at least a waist line area of the patient, means formed onthe garment body including a plurality of extended garment portionsmovable into positions to cover at least part a patient and forming agarment body interconnection between the front garment portion and theback garment portion, the plurality of extended garment portions havinglengths sufficient to anchor the front and back garment portions in atleast one direction perpendicular to the waist line area of the patient,and a plurality of handholds on the a garment body for use by acaregiver to manipulate the patient.

[0017] In another aspect, the present invention provides a garment usedby a caregiver wherein the garment comprising a garment body includingfront portion and a back portion at least partially covering a patient,and a plurality of handholds including at least one rigid member in thegarment body for improving a grip by a caregiver to manipulate apatient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In addition to the various objects and advantages of the presentinvention which have been generally described above, there will bevarious other objects and advantages of the invention that will becomemore readily apparent to those persons who are skilled in the relevantart from the following detailed description of the invention, is read inlight of the accompanying drawings in which:

[0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a male patient wearing adouble-tailed body suit having handholds according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

[0020]FIG. 2 is a pattern for a back portion of a double-tailed bodysuit having handholds according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0021]FIG. 3 is a pattern for a front chest portion of a double-tailedbody suit for the embodiment shown in FIG. 2;

[0022]FIG. 4 is a pattern for a plurality of reinforcing patches for thehandholds on the patterns shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

[0023]FIG. 5A is a front view of a top garment according to anembodiment of the present invention;

[0024]FIG. 5B is a back view of the top garment shown in FIG. 5A;

[0025]FIG. 6A is a front pattern portion for the top garment shown inFIGS. 5A and 5B;

[0026]FIG. 6B is a back pattern portion for the top garment shown inFIGS. 5A and 5B;

[0027]FIG. 7A is a front view of a double tail bottom garment accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028]FIG. 7B is a back view of the double tail bottom garment shown isFIG. 7A;

[0029]FIG. 8A is a front pattern portion for the double tail bottomgarment shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B;

[0030]FIG. 8B is a back pattern portion for the double tail bottomgarment shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B;

[0031]FIG. 9A is a front view of a long leg bottom garment according toan embodiment of the present invention;

[0032]FIG. 9B is a back view of the long leg bottom garment shown inFIG. 9A;

[0033]FIG. 10A is a front pattern portion for the long leg bottomgarment shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B;

[0034]FIG. 10 B is a back pattern portion for the long leg bottom shownin FIGS. 9A and 9B;

[0035]FIG. 11A is a front view of a single tail bottom garment accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036]FIG. 11B is a back view of the single tail bottom garment shown inFIG. 11A;

[0037]FIG. 12A is a front pattern portion for the single tail bottomgarment shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B;

[0038]FIG. 12B is a back pattern portion for the single tail bottomgarment shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B;

[0039]FIG. 13A is an illustration of a handhold comprising a pair ofparallel openings defining a grip strap there between;

[0040]FIG. 13B is an illustration of a handhold similar to that shown inFIG. 13A, but further including a reinforcing patch;

[0041]FIG. 14 is an illustration of a rigid handhold including a rodhaving rounded or chamfered ends;

[0042]FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along line 15-15 of the rigidhandhold shown in FIG. 14;

[0043]FIG. 16 shows the rod position on the fabric prior to forming thehandhold shown in FIG. 14;

[0044]FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along lines 17-17 of thearrangement shown in FIG. 16;

[0045]FIG. 18 is a view of a pair of openings for a handhold cut in thefabric of a garment according to the present invention;

[0046]FIG. 19 is a patch for reinforcing one of the openings shown inFIG. 18;

[0047]FIG. 20 is a patch for reinforcing one of the openings shown inFIG. 18;

[0048]FIG. 21 is a handhold made by attaching the patches shown in FIGS.19 and 20 to the fabric shown in FIG. 18;

[0049]FIG. 22 is an isometric illustration of a reinforced attachmentfor a handgrip forming part of the garment of the present invention; and

[0050]FIG. 23 is a sectional view taken along lines 23-23 of FIG. 22.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0051] According to one aspect of the present invention, as shown inFIG. 1 there is provided a garment 10 used by a caregiver to manipulatethe patient, illustrated and identified by reference numeral 12. Thegarment 10 includes a garment body 14 including front garment portion10F and a back garment portion 10B constructed and arranged fortraversing front area 12F and back area 12B of the patient from at leasta waist line area 12W of the patient. The garment body 14 is providedwith extended garment portions 16, 18 and 24 movable into positions tocover e.g. traverse at least part a patient and forming a garment bodyinterconnection between the front garment portion 10F and the backgarment portion 10B. The extended garment portions 16, 18 and 24 havelengths sufficient to anchor the front and back garment portions aboutthe garment waist area 10W in at least one direction perpendicular tothe waist line area 12W of the patient. The waist line area 12Wcorresponds substantially to the waist line area 10W of the garment 10.In some embodiments of the present invention, the garment is comprisedof only an upper portion extending from the waist line area 10W to theextended garment portion 24 and in other instances the garment iscomprised of only a lower portion extending from the waist line area 10Wto the portions 16 and 18. The portions 16 and 18 in the embodimentshown in FIG. 1 take the form of a right tail portion and a left tailportion passing through the groin area i.e. crotch of the patient. Inother embodiments described hereinafter the portions 16 and 18 take theform of trouser leg portions preferably with a releasable leg closurestructure extending about the inseam of the trouser. The portions 24take the form of shoulder strap portions traversing the trapezius of thepatient. The garment body is provided with a plurality of handholds 32,35, 36, 38, 40 and 140 dimensioned and arranged to allow a caregiver toestablish a positive load transferring grip of the garment in the areaimmediately surrounding the handhold. The handholds 32, 35, 36, 38, 40and 140 are strategically disbursed about the front and back portions ofthe garment to aid use by a caregiver to manipulate the patient. Inanother aspect of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15provides the handholds including at least one rigid member 92 in thegarment body for improving a grip by a caregiver to manipulate apatient.

[0052] In FIG. 1 the patient is nominally designated as a male patient.FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate patterns for a garment, generally designated 20which is similar to garment 10. The front of a garment formed by pattern20 is formed as a vest. A garment 10 according to the pattern 20includes a left tail portion 16 having distal end 17 and a right tailportion 18 having distal end 19. According to the pattern 20 whengarment 10 is placed on a male patient 12, left tail portion 16 andright tail portion 18 are drawn through crotch 13 of the male patient12. Left tail portion 16 is positioned to the left of the genitals ofmale patient 12 and right tail portion is positioned to the right of thegenitals of male patient 12. For garment 10, left tail portion 16 andright tail portion 18 are attached to attachment devices 22. It ispresently preferred that attachment devices 22 be loops. Preferably,distal end 17 of left tail portion 16 is drawn through the left loop 22and attached back on itself by hook and loop fasteners (not shown), ofwhich Velcro is a well known brand name. Likewise, distal end 19 ofright tail portion 18 is drawn through the right loop 22 and attachedback on itself by hook and loop fasteners (not shown). For garmentpattern 20, left tail portion 16 and right tail portion 18 are drawnthrough fastening devices 154 and fastened back on themselves. It ispresently preferred that fastening devices 154 be reinforced openings.Garment pattern 20 also includes bottom edge handholds 152.

[0053] Garments 10 produced according to pattern 20 has shoulder straps24 having handholds 32. Preferably, shoulder strap handholds 32 compriseepaulettes. Preferably, garment 10 and pattern 20 further comprise upperfront handholds 36, and garment 10 has armhole handholds 35 adjacentarmholes 54. Garment 10 further includes lower front handholds 38.Garment pattern 20 further includes upper front handholds 150 and napehandhold 155. Handholds 36 and 38 are formed as openings cut in garment10 on opposite sides of front closure 15. Garments 10 and 20 alsocomprise upper side handholds 40. Garment 10 further comprises lowerside handholds 140 disposed adjacent bottom edge 11 of garment 10. Inthe embodiments illustrated, handholds 36, 38 40, 42, 150 and 156 eachcomprise parallel openings defining a strap there between. A preferredconstruction of these handholds is shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B. FIG. 4illustrates a plurality of reinforcing patches 48, which are appliedaround the openings 45 shown in FIG. 13A, as illustrated in FIG. 13B.Reinforcing patches 48 may include padding (not shown) in the back andside garment grips with fiber, synthetic padding or gel when desired toprotect the hand of the caregiver and skin of the patient.

[0054] A variety of fabrics may be employed for unitary body 14 ofgarment 10. Unitary body 14 may be formed of a soft, quilted fabric fora male patient 12 who generally remains in bed. Alternatively, unitarybody 14 of garment 10 may be formed of a non-stretch performance orsport fabric for a patient in physical therapy, and for partial weightbearing patients. Mesh fabric may be used for disposable garments.

[0055]FIGS. 5A and 5B are front and back views, respectively, of apatient 51 wearing an upper garment 50. FIGS. 6A and 6B show patternsfor the upper garment 50. Upper garment 50 has arm holes 54 and a hole52 for the neck of patient 51. Garment 50 has handholds 40 on sidesthereof and upper front handholds 136. Garment 50 also has left andright shoulder strap handholds 32. It also has back handholds 42.

[0056]FIGS. 7A and 7B are front back views, respectively of a lowergarment 60 for a male patient 12 (shown in FIG. 1). FIGS. 8A and 8B arefront and back patterns for lower garment 60. Lower garment 60 has aleft tail portion 16 and a right tail portion 18, and is similar, inthis regard to the garment 10 illustrated in FIG. 1. Lower garment 60has handholds 38, 40 and 42 for positioning or moving male patient 12.

[0057]FIGS. 9A and 9B are front and back views, respectively, of a lowergarment 70 for a male patient 12 (shown in FIG. 1). FIGS. 10A and 10Bare front and back patterns for lower garment 70. Lower garment 70 isformed as short trousers having waist handholds 138, and back waisthandhold 142, as well as additional handholds 43 located on thighportions of lower garment 70. Lower garment 70 has a cutout 72 in thecrotch area to prevent compression of genital organs of male patient 12.An undergarment 74, which in this embodiment is sweat shorts, is visiblein FIGS. 9A and 9B. In its presently preferred embodiment, lower garment70 is openable along inseam 76 to facilitate removal of undergarment 74for toileting. Lower garment 70 is also recloseable along inseam 76 bydevices such as hooks, snaps, zippers or hook and loop fasteners such asVelcro. It is anticipated that the toilet will have grab bars. Thepatient will be lowered onto the toilet with the garment 70 in place.The patient will then rock or tilt to left and right as a caregiverremoves the subsequently replaces undergarment 74 and recloses inseam76.

[0058]FIGS. 11A and 11B are front and back views, respectively, of alower garment 80 for a female patient. FIGS. 12A and 12B are front andback patters for lower garment 80. Lower garment 80 has waist handholds138 and 142 as well as lower side handholds 140 for positioning ormoving the female patient. Lower garment 80 has a single tail 82 shownin FIGS. 11A and 12B. Garment 80 may have a stretch fabric panel insertfor comfort in the crotch. (Not Shown). Panel may also be bifurcated foreasier toileting.

[0059]FIG. 13A shows a handhold 44 that may be employed at any locationon any embodiment of this invention. Handhold 44 includes parallelopenings 45 cut in fabric 100. Parallel openings 45 define strap 47there between. Preferably, handhold 44 includes stitching 46 tostrengthen handhold 44. Bartack stitching can be used, as necessary, forreinforcement throughout any garment according to the present invention.

[0060]FIG. 13B illustrates reinforced handhold 144 wherein a reinforcingpatch 48 having parallel openings 145 defining strap 147 there betweenis added to handhold 44 and attached thereto by reinforcing stitching146. Patterns for reinforcing patches 48 are shown in FIG. 4. Studs 149of the type employed around the pockets of jeans, may be employed tofurther strengthen handhold 144. Bartack stitching, which is well knownin the art, may alternatively be used.

[0061]FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate an alternative handhold 90 that isgenerally employable on front portions or sides of garments. Handhold 90includes a rigid member, preferably a rod 92 having rounded or chamferedend 94. FIG. 14 is a view of handhold 90 assembled and FIG. 15illustrates section 15-15 in FIG. 14.

[0062]FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate fabrication of handhold 90. The fabric100 has a linear opening 45 and a three-sided cut 96 defining a flap 98.Rod 92 having rounded or chamfered ends 94 is placed on fabric 100. Flap98 is then wrapped around rod 92 to enclose rod 92 and attached bystitching 46. To use handhold 90, a caregiver inserts his or her handthrough opening 99, around rod 92 and brings his or her fingers back outof opening 45 to have a good grip on handhold 90. A lingerie bone, aplastic dowel, or a wooded dowel is possible alternatives for the rigidmember, here shown as rod 92. Generally, a handhold such as handhold 90having a rigid member would not be employed on a back portion of agarment because it would be uncomfortable for the patient. For backportion padding alternatives for rigid member may be synthetic padding,natural fiber or gel.

[0063] FIGS. 18-21 illustrate a handhold having exceptional strength.FIG. 18 shows openings 160 cut in the fabric 100, leaving a strap 162there between. FIG. 19 illustrates a rectangular patch 165 havingopening 168 cut in fabric rectangle 170. Patch 165 has right sideportions 169. FIG. 20 illustrates a rectangular patch 166 having opening168 cut in fabric rectangle 170. Patch 166 has left side portion 171.FIG. 21 illustrates a completed handhold 175 wherein patches 166 and 165are sewn, in that order, to fabric 100. Opening 168 in patch 166 isaligned with the right one of openings 160 and opening 168 in patch 165is aligned with the left one of openings 160. Left side portion 171 ofpatch 166 is laid over strap 162 and the right side portion 169 of patch165 is laid over left side portion 171 of patch 166, so that there isone layer of material 100 and two layers of the material of fabricrectangle 170 between openings 160 of handhold 175. Patches 165 and 166are preferably attached by stitching (not shown).

[0064]FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate a releasable reinforcement 200 for ahandhold such as handhold 144 for application at the desecration of thecaregiver. The releasable reinforcement 200 includes a two ply layer offabric 201 and 202 sewn about the outer peripheral edge and receivingelongated strips of a Velcro hook patch of 204 and Velcro pile patch 205at opposite facing marginal ends of the layered fabric. An elongatedcylinder 206 is interposed in a pocket formed between the layers 201 and202 at the central midportion of the layers of fabric. The elongatedcylinder 206 forms a reinforcing member and is comprised of materialselected form the group consisting of dowel, synthetic fabric, naturalfiber, or gel.

[0065] A variety of handholds may be employed for garments of thepresent invention, handhold 44 and handhold 90 being examples. Fillermay be added to handholds as padding to protect the caregiver's hand orpatient's skin. Filler may be synthetic or natural fiber. One type ofalternative handhold would be formed of synthetic webbing, (not shown).Another type would be cord type, as is commonly employed on mattresses.A skid resistant fabric may be employed on a handhold to facilitategripping the handhold. Generally, in any of the places where fasteningmeans are needed, hooks, buckles, snaps, zippers or Velcro may beemployed. Garments involving one or two tail portions for passingthrough the crotch of a patient in front may be secured by fasteningmeans attached to a band similar to an abdominal binder, but generallylacking elasticity.

[0066] While the present invention has been described in connection withthe preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understoodthat other similar embodiments may be used or modifications andadditions may be made to the described embodiment for performing thesame function of the present invention without deviating therefrom.Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any singleembodiment, but rather construed in breadth and scope in accordance withthe recitation of the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A garment used by a caregiver, said garment comprising: agarment body including front garment portion and a back garment portionconstructed and arranged for traversing front and back areas of thepatient from at least a waist line area of the patient; means formed onsaid garment body including a plurality of extended garment portionsmovable into positions to cover at least part of a patient and forming agarment body interconnection between said front garment portion and saidback garment portion, said plurality of extended garment portions havinglengths sufficient to anchor said front and back garment portions in atleast one direction perpendicular to said waist line area of thepatient; and a plurality of handholds on said a garment body for use bya caregiver to manipulate said patient.
 2. The garment according toclaim 1 wherein said a plurality of extended garment portions includesshort trouser garment leg portions and wherein said garment furthercomprises attachment devices operable along an inseam of said shorttrouser garment leg portions for reattachment of garment margins alongsaid inseam.
 3. The garment according to claim 1 wherein said aplurality of extended garment portions includes short trouser garmentleg portions having an opening in a crotch area to avoid compression ofgenital organs of a male patient.
 4. The garment according to claim 1wherein said plurality of extended garment portions include a right tailportion and a left tail portion, and wherein said garment furtherincludes attachment devices carried by a distal end of said right tailportion and a distal end of said left tail portion.
 5. The garmentaccording to claim 1, wherein said garment body is made of a soft,quilted fabric for patients who generally remain in bed.
 6. The garmentaccording to claim 1 wherein said garment body is made of a non-stretchfabric for a patient.
 7. The garment according to claim 1 wherein saidplurality of extended garment portions have extended distal ends, saidextended distal ends for passage through each of a left loop and a rightloop disposed on said front portion, each of said extended distal endsbeing attached back on itself by fasteners.
 8. The garment according toclaim 1 wherein said plurality of extended garment portions include aleft shoulder strap and a right shoulder strap, and wherein saidplurality of handholds include a left shoulder strap handhold on saidleft shoulder strap and a right shoulder strap handhold on said a rightshoulder strap.
 9. The garment according to claim 1 wherein said frontgarment portion includes upper garment portion dimensioned and arrangedto extend upwardly from said waist line area of a patient for covering achest portion of said patient, said plurality of handholds includinghandholds on said upper garment portion.
 10. The garment according toclaim 1 wherein said plurality of handholds includes at least onehandhold disposed on said front garment portion and wherein said frontportion extends downwardly from said waist line area.
 11. The garmentaccording to claim 1 wherein said plurality of handholds includes atleast one handhold disposed on said back garment portion and whereinsaid back portion extends upwardly from said waist line area.
 12. Thegarment according to claim 1 wherein said garment body is furtherdefined to consist of a vest defined by openings at an area opposite tosaid waist line area for accommodating the head and arms of a patient.13. The garment according to claim 1 wherein said garment body includesside garment portions between said front garment portion and said backgarment portion, and wherein plurality of handholds further includes atleast two handholds disposed on said side garment portions.
 14. Thegarment, according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said handholds areformed in said garment body and includes a pair of parallel openingsdefining a strap there between for grasping by a caregiver.
 15. Thegarment, according to claim 14 further including a reinforcing patch forsaid strap of at least one of said handholds.
 16. The garment, accordingto claim 15 further including padding for said reinforcing patch. 17.The garment according to claim 15 further including studs forreinforcing attachment of said reinforcing patch to said garment body.16. The garment according to claim 1 wherein said garment body isfurther defined to consist of short trousers defined by an inseam foraccess to leg openings at an area opposite to said waist area tofacilitate removal of an undergarment without removal of said trousersfor a patient, said garment further including fasteners for reattachmentof said trousers to a patient along said inseam.
 17. The garmentaccording to claim 16 wherein said fasteners include hook and loopfasteners.
 18. A garment used by a caregiver, said garment comprising: agarment body including front portion and a back portion at leastpartially covering a patient; and a plurality of handholds including atleast one rigid member in said garment body for improving a grip by acaregiver to manipulate a patient.
 19. The garment according to claim 18wherein said at least one rigid member includes releasable reinforcementhaving an elongated cylinder interposed in a pocket formed between thelayers of fabric.
 20. The garment, according to claim 18 wherein said atleast one rigid member includes fabric patches overlapping a strapformed between a pair of openings cut in said garment to define areinforced strap.